Toledo Bend Report

Thursday

Aug 24, 2017 at 5:32 PM

Submitted Story

Hello, anglers and outdoor addicts. For you grass lovers I am finding more hydrilla with most places in 3 to 10 feet. It is about 12 to 18 inches tall most places but there are some areas where it is matted in fairly shallow water 4-8 feet. I’m very encouraged as it shows up really well on my HB Helix and any good electronics. With a fairly long growing season down south, it could be 24-30 inches by mid-October which will be exciting for fall bassin’. Two and a half feet of hydrilla will hold a lot of bass.

LAKE CONDITIONS: The lake level is 171.2’ which is definitely higher than normal for late August but it has been raining almost every day. Both generators have been running 12 hours daily from 10:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. with water temps running from 83-87 degrees depending if it’s clear/sunny with or cloudy/rainy. North Toledo is stained, mid lake mostly clear/slightly stained and south Toledo is clear.

BASS REPORT: There are at least three patterns working currently on my favorite fishing hole. These include a shallow bite from 4 to 12 feet normally from first light (approximately 6:20 a.m.) until 7:45 or longer if there’s heavy clouds. Baits for the early bite include topwater poppers (Gun Fish and Chug Bug), wacky rigged Bottom Hoppers and Senkos worked from 4 to 10 feet and a Texas rigged Bottom Hopper fished from 4 to 12 feet. We are working all of these baits very slow with frequent pauses. The second pattern is from mid-morning till afternoon and is a fairly deep pattern from 15 to 25 feet using drop shot, Texas rigged 10 inch Power Worm and Carolina rigged lizards and sometimes spoons. The third pattern is schooling bass. My guide partner, Jason Courville, was on the lake Monday during the eclipse and there was a period of 20 minutes when it was darken that the schooling fish went wild with solid bass (2-4 pounds) hitting everything they threw. It didn’t last long. Fish are schooling some each day but it is hard to figure out when they will school. Oftentimes it is around noon but sometimes it can be around 8:30-9:00 a.m. especially in the back of major creeks.

On the wacky rig we are using 10-12 lb test mono (Big Game) using spinning tackle on the 10 lb. test and baitcast on the 12 lb. The Senkos are fished weightless and I put a small nail in head of Bottom Hoppers. On wacky rigs the fish will often hit the worm on the initial drop or fall. I would say that I catch over 60% of wacky bass on that initial fall so be ready, especially the bigger bass seem to hit it when it’s falling. The deep pattern is mostly with drop shot using Bottom Hoppers in green pumpkin, June Bug and red bug. I use a drop shot sinker from 1/8 to ¼ ounce depending on depth and wind. We are using fairly large hooks for drop shotting (2/0 and 3/0) and often are burying the hook in the worm so we can drag it over structure. Again, fish this very slowly.

CRAPPIE/YELLOW BASS: Crappie guide, Jack Adams, reports that the crappie continue bite and quality continues to be excellent. Live shiners are Adam’s best bait. All of his crappie are coming from his brush piles. The yellow bass are also being caught on brush piles but also are schooling with largemouth. Yellow bass seldom hit a topwater bait so a small crankbait in shad patterns, tailspinners and spoons are best to catch yellows.

Joe Joslin is a syndicated writer and is published by numerous websites, newspapers and magazines plus is a pro guide on Toledo Bend and Sam Rayburn and a TPWD licensed guide since 1998. Contact at joejoslinoutdoors@yahoo.com, 337-463-3848/409-565-1288 and website www.joejoslinoutdoors.com.